UNIVERSAL
l nformation Services, Inc
NEWS-TIMES MORNING YORK, NE
DAILY
Circulation= 4196
04/23/2008
Guest Opinion
We can't afford to walk 1,away from rural America I -
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By Elisha Greeley Smith Center for Rural Affairs
President Bush's proposed budget for 2009 zeros O L I ~funding for 2 0 important rural development programs. That is the finding of the Center for Rural V f f a i r s recently published Rural Brief. It's crucial for the long " term health and viability of rural , c o m n ~ u n i t i e s that we create opportunities, generate wealth and build assets for individuals, but if funding for rural development keeps being neglected our rural co~nmunitieswill continue to decline. The less we invest
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now in rural development, the more our r ~ ~ r acommunities' l infrastructure deteriorates and the more it will cost in the long run. A s with previous budgets, the 2009 budget recommends termination of numerous federal rural developnlent and rural assetbuilding programs. Adoption of the Administration's 2009 budget would cause total rural development funding to be 7 2 percent less than its 2003 level. Sen. Tom Harkin was recently quoted in an article by Philip Brasher in The Des Moines Register saying "What good does it d o if we keep giving more money to farmers
but they don't have any towns, they don't have churches, they ! don't have hospitals, they don't j have schools, they don't have water?" Senator Harkin's anal ysis is more than accurate - it is a snapshot of what is already happening to our most rural communities. And given the rapid ! decline in rural development funding, it's apparent the federal government is walking away from any commitment to the future of our rural communities and the 6 0 million people who To call rural America home. view the entire Rural Brief: http:llwww.cfra.orghode/l172 :